A Mary's Kind of Retreat

It was my greatest pleasure to preach and chat with the lovely women of Church of Mary Magdalene today,, as always willing to share their love, spirit and opinions.  Before and after the service I had the opportunity to share the question on my heart for them, "What would you do on retreat in Italy, if I could pack you all in my suitcases/bags?"  This was a great day for the question, as our text was Matthew 3:13-17, where Jesus is baptized before being sent out into public ministry, it is his official sending forth with the words of anointing "This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased."  A wonderful start to a ministry where Jesus would be calling us all to follow him, calling us all to be disciples, calling us all into the fullness of relationship with God our creator and one another in love.  I felt the questions of what people would do on retreat was good, because immediately a question was shot back, "what do you mean by retreat?"

 By retreat,I think of time devoted to living fully toward focus on God's call in our lives, beyond the busyness of typical daily life. Time spent reflecting what it means to fully live: mind-body-soul.  Time to consider what we as unique individuals that make up the whole of the body of Christ are to do in our personal call from God.  It is time of sabbath rest, of listening, of being, of breathing, essentially a time to fully BE.
As the ladies shared and made suggestions, I found that I may have wasted all that money on seminary, their ideas for retreat and sabbatical were beautiful and fully encompassed all I would consider essential for retreat.  It will be a pleasure to engage in all their ideas about retreat as we journey together  in heart to Italy.

ESSENTIALS FOR ITALIAN RETREAT, WOMEN OF CHURCH OF MARY MAGDALENE:
Lola:  Sit by a babbling brook in the early evening when the stars are out and clear, read the Bible, fellowship with God and SING.
Shawna:  Site seeing the holy places.  Do soul searching, by talking to different people, learning from the people in Italy.  Find out about God through their eyes.
Arnette:  Go to the top of a mountain, do nothing but be in the quiet of the greatness with a group of people and absorb all the energy you can get.  Be with God on the mountaintop with others. Amen to the cross on the top of the mountain!
Alleen:  Dialog with the Umbrian Women, share it back with the women from Mary's and share our words with them.  Talk about the changing roles of women in their region, in our region.  Converse about family, work and faith in the lives of women.
Bernadette:  Go to the Vatican, to the Sistine Chapel and take real pictures for us, bring us real pictures and rosary beads from the Vatican.
"Unknown Soldier":  Eat healthy, they have such great food, pray often, stay ALIVE, converse with the people about what culturally motivates us, inform us and our faith to live out life following Jesus more.
Donna:  Take cooking classes, it is good for the soul, rest and have fun.
Inez:  Just hang out, enjoy yourself because God is there and will open doors.

"Susan":  "The only time I was on retreat it was a family reunion filled with prayer.  So I guess what is important is adventure, prayer, and fun.  Remember though to take it slow, don't lose faith on why you went."

So in one weeks time WE go, onto Italy, onto retreat, onto contemplating living out our Baptisms.  In one week the Travel with Mary's goes abroad, traveling from Seattle to Italy and we will retreat together, virtually through this blog spot and as always fully connected through the Holy Spirit.

So what is essential for YOU on retreat?????  Feel free to comment!!!